(A reading material) will be released "through/via vs. on" the website

Question

In my mother tongue, through/via X also has a meaning of "something conveyed by means of X" as well as "something piercing X", so we're constantly tempted to express a similar concept using through/via. For example, if someone says like;

This reading material will be released through/via this website.

then we can understand that the material will soon be posted on that website.

The problem is, I'm still unsure of whether it has a similar meaning in the real English usages. Is it idiomatic to use through/via in that kind of sentence? Would it be more natural to simply use on?

Answer 1

The meanings are very similar, but not quite the same.

Saying the material will be released on this website means that the material will be placed on this website. That is, you will come to this website and the material will be there.

Saying the material will be released through this website means that you will come to this website and, through some means or other that will be made clear on the website, the material will be available. For example, this website might provide you a link. Or this website might provide you with an email address you send a request to and the material is then sent to you. It would even cover the material being on the website.

Through would be very likely if the material were hard-copy. So if you were getting a paper-printed book or something, you would probably say it was released through the website.

Using via is equivalent to through.